by dcjwjeditor | Dec 7, 2012 | Guest Blog, Immigrant Rights, Trabajadores Unidos de DC / United Workers of DC, Wage Theft
Guest Blog Post from Barbra A. Kavanaugh December 4, 2012 Everyone knows what theft is, but I am constantly surprised by how few people know what “wage theft” is. Simply put, wage theft is when employers refuse to pay employees the wages they have earned, either by denying them the minimum wage, overtime or frequently, simply not paying them at all. Every week, more than two-thirds of low-wage workers experience at least one incident of wage theft. At a time when many Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, for many of the clients we see, even just one incident of wage theft can result in unpaid rent, car repossession or homelessness. One of the most common ways that employers steal wages is by misclassifying their employees as independent contractors to avoid paying the legally required minimum wage and overtime pay. Workers who are wrongly labeled as independent contractors are cheated of many of the legal protections afforded to employees – including minimum wage and overtime. No matter what an employer calls a worker, the law determines whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor. Although there is no hard and fast rule, the more control an employer has over the circumstances of a worker’s employment, the more likely it is that the worker should be considered an employee, and not an independent contractor. For example, if an employer controls the hours that someone works, where they work and provides their equipment, that person is not likely to be an independent contractor. Too often, employers take advantage of workers’ ignorance on this issue, and deny rightful wages, overtime, breaks,...
